By Christina Meiser

The Student Government Association of Florida Southern College has been making waves over the past school year, with numerous accomplishments already under their belt and even more in the making.

Recently, SGA has been working on getting students motivated to use the campus shuttle busses. They were able to get the shuttle changed from what was an on-call system to a preset schedule in order to create a more reliable and structured system. According to SGA President Chase Hoyt, an average of 40-60 students utilize the shuttles on any given day. Looking to increase that number, however, he has been exploring the possibility of implementing a rewards plan.

“There is no incentive system as of right now,” Hoyt said.

He explained that they are just currently keeping track of which shuttle stations and destinations are most popular, in addition to how many students use it on a daily basis. However, possible rewards systems could include incentives related to points or MocBucks. More updates on this will be announced at future Presidents’ Circle meetings.

Aside from working on implementing incentives for the shuttle system, SGA managed to discontinue the use of plastic bags in the Moc Mart. The initiative is to “promote sustainability,” and around 2,000 reusable tote bags were passed out over winter break to students residing in campus-owned housing. Hoyt shared that a group of his friends were the designers behind the bags’ unique logo. It was stated that many students are still getting used to the new program, and because of that, tote bags were being provided at the Moc Mart for those who forgot their bags.

Each Presidents’ Circle meeting has provided presidents of student organizations with important information and updates on what SGA is working to achieve. At the most recent meeting on February 2, Chase Hoyt announced that they were in collaboration with Agape Food Bank.

Agape Food Bank was founded in 1983 and works with Polk, Hardee and Highlands county. According to their Facebook page, Agape Food Bank “distributed 9 million pounds of donated food last year, through our network of almost 200 member agencies.”

Recently, Agape reached out to Florida Southern in hopes of opening a location on campus. While the location, opening date and hours of availability have yet to be determined, Agape will be providing the food. According to Hoyt, the two main things Agape is requiring of them is a location and people to staff it. Hoping the plan goes through successfully, the number of people who use the food bank will be tracked to determine whether or not the program needs to be limited or expanded.

Fortunately, students will not need to prove their financial need or meet specific criteria in order to be able to access the food bank. Agape also expressed interest in adding toiletry items in the future, as announced at the Presidents’ Circle.

The next Presidents’ Circle meeting will be held April 6 at 6 p.m. in the Hollis Room. We anticipate further updates in the future.

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